Saturday, June 22, 2013
Jun. 22nd, 2013 09:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bearshortyBear and I were supposed to drive out to Long Island today for a baby shower, but my friend Abena had the baby early. Her baby boy was born last week - on Bear's birthday, no less, so the baby shower got postponed. We got to spend a nice domestic day together, which was very, very nice in itself. We went food shopping and other shopping, I cleaned the bathroom, we went to visit my grandparents, I cooked dinner (mashed potatoes with turkey cutlets and peas). There was a little traffic getting to my grandparents in Coney Island because of the parade today, but other than that it was a nice relaxing day and exactly what I needed.
I didn't have breaks this week, I was either out canvasing or petitioning - mostly petitioning. The whole week feels like it happened a long time ago. Just Monday I was in this very Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and it feels forever ago.
Earlier in the week I had, let's say, an ...adventurous day. Telling the story now feels just like a story and not something that really happened. I was in the Bronx, petitioning and most of the day was pretty ordinary. Nice park, a farmer's market, and during a lunch break in a park - a guy ranting about how he was educated by talk-radio and how the whole country is lost and is Communist and all is terrible - which was pretty amusing. (The next day I get a guy who wants us to kill all the Arabs, citing the history of printing press and blaming lack of early modern printing in the Arab world on many problems - I sometimes meet very weird people). Anyhow, after the ranty guy and lunch at about 2pm, Amelia, the girl I was with, and I started walking toward the school we were assigned to next. As we approached one crosswalk where we needs to turn to get to the school, we waited for the light to stop by the Dunken Donuts first. As we waited there, in the middle of the day, on a busy street, five gun shots rang out. Many people just started running and, of course, we did too. A little while later once people sort of slowed down, I overheard one woman telling another that she saw two people getting into an argument. Amelia and I headed back to our original spot - we called our Lead right away to tell him there was no way we were going to that school now. I was a bit shaken for about an hour but it seemed to go away, at least until I got home that night and had to tell Bear. Somehow, telling him brought it all back. It's fine now, it was fine the next day. I've just never heard gun shots before, much less right across the street from me. And it is a bit cliche to go to the Bronx and hear gun shots.
The rest of the week was less dramatic - I got to bother people in Central Park and I had lunch with Janna on Friday. And later that night, I went over to Yeva's place.
On Wednesday, I met up with Olya after work and we had sushi and went to a classical piano concert by Elisha Abas in this bar/club on Bleecker street. The guy played Chopin and Liszt and others without the score in front of him - he was amazing.
So the earlier, dramatic part of the week feels so long ago.
I didn't have breaks this week, I was either out canvasing or petitioning - mostly petitioning. The whole week feels like it happened a long time ago. Just Monday I was in this very Orthodox Jewish neighborhood and it feels forever ago.
Earlier in the week I had, let's say, an ...adventurous day. Telling the story now feels just like a story and not something that really happened. I was in the Bronx, petitioning and most of the day was pretty ordinary. Nice park, a farmer's market, and during a lunch break in a park - a guy ranting about how he was educated by talk-radio and how the whole country is lost and is Communist and all is terrible - which was pretty amusing. (The next day I get a guy who wants us to kill all the Arabs, citing the history of printing press and blaming lack of early modern printing in the Arab world on many problems - I sometimes meet very weird people). Anyhow, after the ranty guy and lunch at about 2pm, Amelia, the girl I was with, and I started walking toward the school we were assigned to next. As we approached one crosswalk where we needs to turn to get to the school, we waited for the light to stop by the Dunken Donuts first. As we waited there, in the middle of the day, on a busy street, five gun shots rang out. Many people just started running and, of course, we did too. A little while later once people sort of slowed down, I overheard one woman telling another that she saw two people getting into an argument. Amelia and I headed back to our original spot - we called our Lead right away to tell him there was no way we were going to that school now. I was a bit shaken for about an hour but it seemed to go away, at least until I got home that night and had to tell Bear. Somehow, telling him brought it all back. It's fine now, it was fine the next day. I've just never heard gun shots before, much less right across the street from me. And it is a bit cliche to go to the Bronx and hear gun shots.
The rest of the week was less dramatic - I got to bother people in Central Park and I had lunch with Janna on Friday. And later that night, I went over to Yeva's place.
On Wednesday, I met up with Olya after work and we had sushi and went to a classical piano concert by Elisha Abas in this bar/club on Bleecker street. The guy played Chopin and Liszt and others without the score in front of him - he was amazing.
So the earlier, dramatic part of the week feels so long ago.
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-25 06:15 pm (UTC)Seeing how New York has so many people, I am shocked you don’t have more stories like this! :D There really are some odd folks out there, huh?
And holy scary at the gunshots … wow ): I would have run for my life too! Did you ever find out if they really were gunshots? Or maybe fireworks? Though gunshots do have a distinct sound. So scary!
I must have missed it, but what are you petitioning? I’m trying to catch up now, but I may be VERY behind where you wrote about this.
Hope you’re having a less crazy/dramatic week!
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-26 01:58 am (UTC)I'm interning at a political campaign for the summer. I can't post online who it is for but it is for the Mayor election in New York City. We have so many candidates this year, it will be one exciting primary in September. So right now, I'm petitioning to get my candidate officially on the ballot for the primary. Then, after July 5th, it will be all canvasing and phone banking.
Those were definitely gunshots. Didn't sound like fireworks at all. I've never heart gunshots live (not in tv or movies) before but you really can't mistake them. That and lots of people were running. Nothing that dramatic happened this week, at least. I was mostly in Manhattan, so that was nice.